Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Defeat of the Holy See

He smiled at the stunned Medefer, yet in Medefer’s eyes that smile was more dreadful than any demon in hell.

“Who, exactly, are you?” Michael asked. As befit a seraph of extraordinary power, there was a hint of mockery in the question, yet he was indeed a formidable being. In terms of strength, a six-winged seraph had already reached the level of an immortal; only, his luck was poor, for he had run into Cold Flame. In the blink of an eye, he had returned before her and now asked in a grave tone.

He had no choice but to be grave. Cold Flame’s existence exceeded even his original expectations. The tiny blow just now carried energy that told him the Eastern youth before him was anything but ordinary.

Cold Flame spread her hands in an expression of helplessness. “At last someone has noticed me. I’m truly delighted.” Turning toward Medefer, she spoke instead to Michael, “Your Western angels are really something. At the very least, I am a guest who has traveled from far away, and you even had the audacity to ignore me completely.”

It was a most biting irony. So many angels had descended, and three had already appeared. When they first arrived, each had been arrogantly full of himself, so how could they possibly think highly of Cold Flame? Hearing this now, Michael felt his pride stung; a faint anger showed on his face, though he still forced himself to endure it. The person before him might be even more powerful, and at such a moment he must not let wrath cloud his mind.

“As the honored guest says, we have indeed been discourteous. We beg your pardon.” Suppressing his temper, Michael replied with great decorum. Such words were harmless enough; if they could reduce conflict, so much the better.

“O great Lord Jehovah, your messenger Michael, for the peace of Heaven, has been forced to yield to the Eastern one before him. May you forgive him. Amen!”

While his mouth spoke flatteries, Michael’s heart was praying for Jehovah’s forgiveness. He was not wrong in his thoughts. If this Eastern youth were provoked, with his power he would surely bring Heaven unimaginable trouble. Nor was Michael an arrogant man who could not accept defeat. In terms of combat power, he felt the youth in front of him was very likely above him. And what was he himself? A warrior angel, of course. Setting aside the elite guards at God’s side, in all of Heaven who could surpass him in battle? If Cold Flame were to attack Heaven, how many angels would die or be wounded?

“Easy enough, easy enough,” Cold Flame said generously. “I’m not petty. It’s just that I rarely come to the West, and to be ignored all the time—that kind of hurt, as a strong person, you understand, don’t you?” She spoke in a tone that seemed truly pained, appealing to feeling and reason alike. It was enough to make listeners weep.

Michael shook his head in confusion. He found that the Eastern youth was not all that difficult to deal with after all, rather like a child in temperament. In truth, Cold Flame was a child—ha, ha.

“May I ask, honored guest, are you from the East…” Michael inquired cautiously about Cold Flame’s background.

“A god, naturally!” Cold Flame answered without the slightest humility. She was merely speaking casually, only intending to tease Michael.

But one spoke thoughtlessly, while the listener took it to heart. Michael firmly etched the fact that Cold Flame was an Eastern “god” into his mind.

His respect for her grew even greater. Of course, she was a god; even if she was from the East, she could not be much weaker than the gods of the West, could she? Michael thought to himself. There were many divine systems in the West. Setting aside the Olympian gods, even within Jehovah’s line alone, the only one who could truly be called a god was Jehovah Himself. As for Michael, at most he was merely a messenger of God.

Michael did not doubt the truth of Cold Flame’s words. Her previous strike had been too astonishing, giving him far too much shock. In his mind, the first impression had already taken hold, and he believed the Eastern youth before him was indeed a “god” worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Jehovah.

“O great Eastern deity, I believe the matter that has occurred this time must involve some misunderstanding.” Now he had directly changed it to “great Eastern deity.” Michael was thoroughly convinced.

“A misunderstanding?” Cold Flame gave a cold smile. Whenever the weaker side encountered someone stronger, they always liked to put ‘misunderstanding’ on their lips. But if the other party were weaker than themselves, would it still be a misunderstanding?

Still, she did not wish to tangle with him any longer. “A misunderstanding, is it? Then what do you suggest?”

“I am willing to hear your instructions.” At this moment, Michael looked very much like an obsequious petty man.

“Some of the people in the Dark Council below are my friends.”

“Release them!” Before she could even finish, Michael cut in at once. What was the Dark Council to him? They were not his sworn enemy, the Fallen Angels; he paid them no mind at all and said it offhandedly.

“Release them?” Cold Flame was somewhat surprised by Michael’s straightforwardness, but she quickly understood. In the eyes of beings at their level, a role like the Dark Council was no different from an ant. Releasing them would be no great matter. Still, in order to secure greater benefit, and since Luz, after all, counted as his friend, she said, “They have long been oppressed by the Church, to the point that even I, an outsider, can hardly bear to watch. I think survival is an inherent right of every living thing, a right that none may deprive. The Church’s conduct has already violated the laws of nature. In the East, we revere nature and advocate following its course. If this matter were in the East, I would certainly intervene; it is just that this place is, after all, the West.”

Michael listened carefully, not daring to miss a single word. Hearing her speak thus, he found her reasoning sound enough. He could not help but wonder whether his Heavenly divine system’s constant assistance to the Church was truly right. The Church was indeed rather fanatical. Although the dark beings worshipped the demons of the abyss opposed to Heaven, God was merciful—how could He deprive them of the right to live?

“O great Eastern deity, please rest assured. I am deeply moved by your broad compassion. My Lord is likewise a merciful Lord, and He will surely grant all beings of the world the same rights.” Michael said this with reverence, his eyes flashing with fervent light. It seemed he had become fanatically devoted to the ideal of equality for all.

“Then may the dark beings live beneath the sun as well?”

“Of course! I, Michael, can guarantee that. My Lord must surely think the same.”

“The Church will no longer hunt them down?”

“Certainly!”

“Good. Then, noble friend, I am relieved by your understanding.” Striking once and then offering a sweet morsel, Cold Flame said cheerfully. In truth, there was another implication in those words: the speaker had placed himself on a higher level than the listener. Only, it was uncertain whether Michael had caught it.

“Did you all hear that, my friends?” Cold Flame shouted toward the people of the Dark Council below.

The members of the Dark Council looked up excitedly at Cold Flame and Michael in the air; as for Medefer beside them, he was naturally ignored. In his excitement, Luz did not forget Cold Flame’s contribution. What a kindhearted “goddess” she was!

The Church’s people, by contrast, wore miserable expressions. They could even foresee how, in the near future, the Dark Council would rise high above them. In this holy war, the Church could be said to have suffered a crushing defeat. They had hoped to turn the tide with the power of the gods, yet had instead received such an outcome.

Both sides suffered heavy losses, but the Church’s were far more severe than the Dark Council’s. The Church could recover quickly under divine blessing, but because it had lost this holy war, the blessings bestowed by the gods would diminish, and the Church would find it difficult to restore its former strength. The Dark Council was different. Michael had already said he would no longer “interfere” in the survival of the dark beings, which meant the Dark Council’s development would no longer be hindered by the Church’s divine overlords to any great degree. It could only grow better.

The Matthew effect: the weak grow weaker, the strong grow stronger. One could already foresee the Dark Council’s future expansion and the Church’s continuing decline.

Upon receiving such a result from this holy war, Joseph Peter XVI felt as though he were about to faint.

A major matter was reduced to a minor one, and a minor matter to nothing at all. Upholding the principle that friendship comes first, Cold Flame and Michael shook hands and made peace. The two looked so close one could mistake them for brothers long parted, differing only in that they had yet to find a place to share a drink. As for handling the affairs of the Church and the Dark Council, Michael prepared to return to Heaven. The outcome could be called a triumph for all involved—no, not all involved. It was the Council that triumphed, while the Church was the one that would have to cry.

“Many thanks, Young Master!” After Cold Flame descended from the sky, Luz came over and said to her with a choked voice.

Luz was truly overjoyed. The Dark Council had finally held its head high; after the rain, they had seen the rainbow. The present situation was one he had never even dared to imagine before, yet now it had become reality. He even wondered whether it was truly real, and if it were a dream, what he would do then.

Cold Flame waved a hand. It had only been within her power, a simple act of helping others.

What followed was very simple. The battlefield was cleared away, and the people of the Dark Council departed in high spirits, leaving the dazed Church members still lost in confusion.

Upon returning to the Dark Council’s territory, Cold Flame did not go with them to celebrate. Instead, he found a quiet room alone, intending to study carefully the Divine Dragon Cauldron that had been stolen from the Church. He had been too busy to examine it closely before.

After looking it over carefully, Cold Flame’s heart turned cold. This Divine Dragon Cauldron was nearly identical in style to the others he had already obtained, yet there was one crucial difference: this seventh Bi’an Cauldron, like the third Chiwen Cauldron, had no indication pointing to the location of the next cauldron. In other words, the eighth Fuxi Cauldron was also impossible to locate.

Why did so many things go wrong? Was fate truly so turbulent? The fourth Pulao Cauldron and the eighth Fuxi Cauldron—two Divine Dragon Cauldrons were not even in normal space. Without those two, how was he to find the final ninth Chiwen Cauldron?

Only three cauldrons remained, and yet even those three were enough to drive a person mad, Cold Flame sighed.

Beginning with the next chapter, the succession of climactic events surrounding the Feather Emperor will begin—a wave following another, until the first part of the story reaches its end...

By the way, I also recommend two books: Blue Blue Transformation and The Lost Key.